A man and his son

Jeremy Irons (unfortunate name source, he knew) tried his best to look as committed to the idea of walking and spending his afternoon in the mall with his son, though a good part of him wondered if this was something his ex-wife Connie had cooked up. The divorce had been somewhat amicable years ago and they had done a fairly decent job of co-parenting, though his child support payments often told him the story was more likely one of being tolerated than anything else.

Still, as he watched Gregory wander among the various new stores that appeared in the downtown mall, he had to admit that it was something he looked forward to. Shopping was not such a manly thing for a construction worker to be doing but he felt it was still a good idea to get out, stretch his legs, and where-better to spend that time than indoors where it was climate controlled and the spaces were wide and not filled with loud clanging or the sounds of jackhammers and nailguns. Absent all that distraction, being able to meander through corridors of shops and semi-obtrusive storefronts were a sacrifice he was willing to make.

"Dad, let's check out that store. Looking for something for Mallory," he called out and Jeremy bit back the stinging rebuke from his lips. Unlike his friendly relationship with his son, his daughter Mallory had promptly cut him off and declared any and all ties with him to be dead and ended with the marriage. Hell, she didn't even calling him 'Dad' anymore, always either 'life-giver' or, if she was particularly being crass, 'sperm-shooter'. Connie's attempts at fixing that had fallen on deaf ears and all he did was just stay out of the girl's way.

Gregory had disappeared into the shop, which bore an odd name for a rather upscale suburban shopping center. World Imports, which sort of looked like a hybrid World-Market meets Target deal. Each section was broken down into generic regions, like an African region and Asian Region. Right now, as he watched, Gregory was browsing in the general European import section, looking for some sort of knick-knack import for his sister. Thinking better than to bother his son, Jeremy then found himself at the middle of the fork in the store.